Italy's occult capital & its hidden secrets

Turin has Baroque architecture, ‘light-as-an-angel’ pizza and a flourishing contemporary art scene

- MARTHA CHENG

AGAINST THE BACKDROP of the Alps, the northern Italian city of Turin has been known for many things: It was the birthplace of espresso, vermouth and Fiat and is considered one of Europe's occult capitals, believed to sit at the nexus of black magic and white magic triangles. It was Italy's first actual capital, after the country unified in 1861.

By then, Turin had already served for several centuries as a seat of power for the Duchy of Savoy, and also, briefly, as a French departmental capital (it was occupied by Napoleon's empire from 1802-14). This stature gave Turin its wide boulevards and promenades, elegant Baroque palaces and gilded cafes.